Janet Mock, Transgender Advocate, to Speak at UC San Diego

Janet Mock

The University of California, San Diego will host Janet Mock, a transgender advocate, writer and New York Times bestselling author of Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More on Thursday, May 1 at 7 p.m. in the Price Center Theatre on campus. After publicly proclaiming her identity as a trans woman in a 2011 profile in Marie Claire magazine, Mock focuses her efforts on speaking about the struggles, triumphs and portrayals of girls and women like herself. In 2012, she launched #GirlsLikeUs, a movement that encourages trans women to live visibly. She currently writes and speaks about her experience of living at the intersections of identities.

“Janet Mock’s story and journey parallels so many young LGBT people’s lives, and her inspiration for transgender communities is beyond compare,” said Shaun Travers, director of UC San Diego’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center. “We hope her talk will engage the UC San Diego community, as well as the broader San Diego region, in issues related to gender identity, inclusion and respect.”

With the passage of the School Success and Opportunity Act which went into effect in California on January 1, 2014, transgender youth have the opportunity to fully participate and succeed in schools across the state, including UC San Diego. UC San Diego has one of the largest LGBT Resource Centers in the nation, which supports the transgender community on campus. Her talk will add depth and nuance to the conversation around supporting transgender youth in school, colleges and universities in California and across the nation.

Mock’s presentation begins at 7:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. For parking, please use the Gilman Parking Structure. Parking and map information is at parking.ucsd.edu.

The event is co-sponsored by a number of departments and division at UC San Diego, including the African American Studies Minor; Associated Students; Office of the Associate Vice President of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; Black Resource Center; Critical Gender Studies program; Cross-Cultural Center; International Center; and the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center. Co-sponsors also include the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination; Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; Vice Chancellor Resource Management and Planning; UC San Diego Academic Senate; UC San Diego Bookstore; and the Women’s Center.

For more information about Janet Mock’s appearance at UC San Diego, visit: lgbt.ucsd.edu.